“That’s a pretty long list.” She’d already shifted around him and sat up, looking in the same direction he was. “Most of them should be much smaller than either of us.”
Dipping his chin, he slanted a glance in her direction. Nothing about those last words made him feel better about being alone on the mountain with a beautiful woman who he liked way more than he should after only knowing her a few days, and not a weapon in sight. Pushing to his feet, he extended his arm and pulled her to stand beside him, ready to move her behind him if whatever was making so much noise proved to be a problem.
A spot of light shone in the distance. Not the flash of the shower above, but a wobbly light that he doubted seriously had anything to do with a vicious and hungry wild animal and everything to with the upright human kind.
“Hi there.”
Two shadows emerged from the edge of the path they’d ascended earlier and Logan looped a hand around Rose’s waist and shoved her a little harder than he should have behind him.
“Lily?” Rose’s voice questioned from behind him.
“Hey. Can’t a girl change her mind?” Lily appeared in the reflection of the flashlight held by her fiancé, and huffing lightly, came to a stop in front of them. “Actually, I woke up way before my alarm.”
“And I couldn’t fall asleep.” Cole turned off the flashlight.
“So, since we were both awake at this inhuman hour of the night…”
“You decided to come watch the stars,” Rose finished for her.
Lily nodded. “And I’m hungry. Any food left?”
“Lucy packed enough for half the town.” Rose pointed to the basket.
Following the direction of his cousin-in-law’s finger, Cole shifted his gaze from the basket of food to the blanket on the ground and then up to Logan. “Sorry if we interrupted anything.”
“Not at all,” Rose said quickly.
Logan merely shook his head. He had no business letting his mind wander places it had no business going. Not with someone as special as Rose.
“I’m almost surprised to see you still here.” Lily rolled a small blanket out beside the one Logan and Rose had been on. “With the tournament registration starting in the morning and all.”
Logan hadn’t given that the slightest thought. Tomorrow—make that today—at nine am the registration desk at the Inn would open. Fisherman would be arriving in droves to register early before the start of the tourney the next day. If she was going to be hovering over that the way he suspected, she was going to need a good night’s rest. And considering the hour already, that didn’t seem terribly likely. He could almost hear his mother shaking her head at him. He should have been more thoughtful of Rose. Then again, maybe his real problem was thinking of Rose a little too much.
Chapter Twelve
“Everything all right, dear?” Fiona Hart looked over her shoulder at her husband. Sitting in his favorite chair, a dog at either side, the man she loved may have been gazing out the window, but his thoughts were a million miles away.
“They seem happy, don’t you think?” Intent on a distant point, the General’s gaze never faltered.
Fiona glanced out the window in the direction of her husband’s attention. Yesterday’s registration for the fundraising tournament had gone off without a hitch. By mid-day things had been running so smoothly her granddaughter Rose had come home and managed to sneak in a short nap.
Now, even though the sun was nowhere to be found yet this morning, Callie, Poppy, Cindy, and Iris were scurrying about like ants. Carrying things from the house to Rose’s car or setting up the weigh in tent on the Point. Whatever was needed, the work was being done without question and with a smile. For the most part. Fiona’s grandchildren made her proud. Each one pitching in where they could. Even at this unholy hour of the morning. Cindy’s fiancé and Iris’ husband appeared to have been designated to do the heavy lifting. From the smile on the men’s faces, neither seemed to mind. “That they do,” she agreed.
A lifetime ago Fiona had learned to rise with the sun in order to enjoy the morning with her husband. Having him at her side each and every morning since his retirement was something she’d waited a lifetime for. She cherished every moment together. Especially when she thought of how different their lives could have been. So many women kissed their husbands goodbye, sent them off with Uncle Sam to parts of the world unknown, and never had the pleasure of sharing another breakfast.
“Seems like yesterday, doesn’t it?” The General had become more nostalgic over the last few months. Always a gun ho Marine looking to the future, despite their advanced years. Until that grim day. Now he looked to the past a tad more often than before he was forced to stare down fate.
She couldn’t blame him. The bitter aftertaste of her own fear continued to linger in her mouth.
“Don’t you go there.” Hand extended, Harold Hart looked up at his wife and smiled. “The next generation is finally getting it right. Soon we’ll enjoy another lifetime together with great-grandchildren filling this old place with laughter.”
“And chaos, no doubt.”
“No doubt.” He chuckled.
Fiona squeezed his hand and leaned against him. “I think I’m going to like that.”
* * * *
So far, so good. Rose looked around the Point. Plenty of room for fishermen to check in. The tables and scales were all in place. All the volunteers had arrived on time for their assigned tasks. Weigh in wouldn’t start till four o’clock this afternoon. She glanced at her wrist watch. If she hurried, she could have one semi-relaxing cup of coffee with her grandfather before the bustle of the day took over.
“Looks good.” The General’s familiar voice sounded behind her. As usual, Lady and Sarge at his side. “I hear there were some last minute registrants last night.”
“Quite a few.” She was more than delighted she wasn’t in charge of that aspect of the tournament. Last night, watching the volunteers check off lists, compare driver’s licenses and IDs and hand out badges almost had her breaking out in a rash. As it was, she had her hands full with the door prizes. Praise the heavens she came from a big family and that Cindy and Callie were very possibly more organized than she was. She couldn’t imagine getting through everybody tugging at her at once without them.
“What now?” he asked.
“Now,” she smiled up at him, “I sneak back to the house for a cup of coffee and maybe one of Lily’s leftover muffins.” Anyone who had ever tasted one of her cousin’s muffins would agree that even day old was often better than most people’s fresh baked.
“Smart girl.”
“Sorry I took so long.” Fiona Hart waltzed up to them. “One of the guests in the Elm cottage needed fresh towels and I told Lucy I’d handle it since George is volunteering with the fishermen.”
“Shall we?” The General extended his elbow and in an often practiced motion, her grandmother’s hand slid comfortably home.
Taking a moment, she watched her grandparents stroll away along the water’s edge. Rose loved the way her grandparents still lit up like besotted teens in each other’s company. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever get so lucky in life, or if the days of loyalty, devotion and old fashioned romance were simply long gone. Then she’d look at some of her cousins and think maybe this generation still stood a chance.
She’d barely crossed into the foyer when Logan exited the dining room, a travel coffee mug in each hand. “Oh, good morning.”
Damn if that man’s smile didn’t make all coherent thought slip out her ears. “Morning.”
“I figured you might be too busy to come in. I was going to bring you this.” He shot his arm out at her, dangling the bigger cup. “Milk, no sugar.”
Maybe it was silly, but the idea that he’d noticed how she liked her coffee and remembered and thought enough to bring her cup made her downright giddy. “Thank you, but I expected you to be on the lake battling the crowd for a spot.”
“Ah, you see,” his
brows lifted and dropped, making his eyes twinkle, “I have a plan.”
“You do?” Dipping her chin slightly, she blew on her coffee but kept her eyes level with his.
He took a slow swallow of his morning brew. “I’ve already scoped out where the fish like to hang out, and determined they’re not early risers.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “Usually fish like the early morning dark.”
“Which is why fishermen have been out there for hours.”
He nodded. “And normally I’d be out there with them, but every time I’ve been out the last few days, the fish haven’t taken the bait so I didn’t see any reason not to enjoy Lucy’s breakfast this morning.”
Like she’d said all along during the planning and executing of this little venture, she knew art, not fish. “If you say so.”
“I do. Do you have time to get something to eat? There’s still quite a spread in the dining room.”
“Actually, I was just on my way to grab a muffin. I don’t like to eat a heavy meal on a busy day. Just slows me down.”
“Then you’re in luck. Lucy said something about Iris dropping off more muffins and croissants than she knew what to do with.”
Rose couldn’t stop the tiny moan of delight that escaped her lips. Like it or not, Rose was willing to take odds that she was about to have a big and heavy breakfast.
“The wheels are turning.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re thinking about something. My guess is it’s more of a debate.”
“You might say that.”
His gaze lingered and after a few seconds reading her as if she were a paperback novel, he nodded. “Not fish and art. You’re thinking about Lily’s food.”
She tapped the tip of her nose with her finger. “Bingo. Give the man a prize.” Immediately she shook her head and waved her hand. “Nix that. I don’t want to think about prizes until I have no choice later this afternoon.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“No. I suppose not, but I appreciated everyone’s help. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again. It was very nice of you to jump in and help last night.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned a few degrees and tipped his head toward the food in invitation, then followed her into the dining room. “What time are you on duty?”
“Not till weigh in.”
“Really?” He held the door open for her.
“Really.” She smiled up at him and hoped she didn’t look like a smitten high schooler crushing on the new teacher.
“I don’t suppose,” he set his mug on the table and pulled a chair out for her, “you’d like to join me this morning?”
“Aren’t you fishing?”
He nodded.
“Oh.” Sometimes she was a little slow on the uptake. “You want me to go fishing with you?”
Again he bobbed his head. “Give me a chance to show you the fun side.”
“Fun?” She glanced up at him without lifting her head higher. “With fish?”
A loud rumble of laughter sounded. “Yes, with fish.” A curtain seemed to drop, hiding all expression. “And me.”
* * * *
He was completely sure she was going to turn him down flat. She’d made it quite clear that first day on the water that she would stay away from boats and fishing for perpetuity. It was rather smug of him to think she’d make an exception for him. Even if she did seem to like kissing him.
When she nodded and told him to wait while she changed clothes, he wasn’t sure who was more surprised at her response—him or her—because frankly she seemed just as startled as him to hear the words slip from her lips.
Less than an hour later and here they were pulling quietly into Morton’s Cove. From the way her eyes circled round like a startled owl, he was pretty sure she recognized it.
“You like to live dangerously, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question.
Which was a good thing because he didn’t have an answer for her. He held out his phone and kept his eyes on the screen. “Turns out this is the best spot on the lake for actually catching fish.”
Rose stretched her neck to see. “Dare I ask what you’re doing?”
“Locating fish.” Slathered in triple digit sunscreen, covered from head to toe and wearing a hat that was almost bigger than she was, the woman was absolutely adorable and totally irresistible. Keeping his eyes on the fish was his best defense.
“Really?”
“Mm hm.” He glanced up at her. “Competitive anglers have all sorts of tricks to help them find where the fish are, how deep they are, you’d be amazed.”
“I already am. Still I can’t imagine that very many back-to-nature, up to their hip boots in water fishermen are using modern technology as easily as you do.”
“It’s not that hard.”
“Not for a geek. Is that legal?” Her tone was only half kidding.
Determining this was as good a place as any to drop his line, he set down his phone and glanced up at her. “In the rule book.”
“That would be the one I told Nadine I’d read when I volunteered to monitor your honesty instead of Bobby from the marina.”
“That would be the one.” He smiled. From what he’d overheard of her conversation this morning, he was pretty sure she had no idea what the rules were or what she was committing to. Fortunately for everyone involved he wasn’t nearly as competitive as some anglers, not at all ruthless, and the truth was that this had been more about an opportunity to spend time with his grandfather than win the coveted prize money. Or in the case as it be now—spend time with Rose.
“So. Now what?” she asked.
“That depends. Are you going to simply monitor or do you want to try to catch a fish or two? Of course you’re not registered for the tournament, so your catch won’t count for anything, but…”
“It’s supposed to be fun.”
Maybe fun wasn’t quite the right word. “It’s relaxing. I suppose the best part is communing with nature.”
The pointed glare she cast in his direction had him fighting back a chuckle. “Okay, maybe not communing with nature so much as sharing quality time with people you like.”
“That I can buy.” Her gaze shifted to the gear and tackle in the boat. “Since I can’t possibly reel you in again, I might as well give it another shot.”
“Works for me.” He leaned forward to grab an extra pole when her fingers gripped his forearm.
“But wait. The winners are based on total fish weight, not just fish count. What if I catch a bigger fish than you? I could be stealing an opportunity for you to have a higher weigh in.”
The deep concern in her eyes reeled him in as easily and surely as she’d done with the fishing rod not all that long ago. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. It’s a big lake. There are a lot of fish. Que sera sera, so to speak.”
Rose shook her head and smiled. “I think we’d be better off if I just cheered you on. After all, with my record, who knows what I’d catch.”
That made him laugh. “Not that I’m saying I agree with you, but okay.”
Within minutes he’d caught his first fish. Working the reel, it took a little bit to bring the guy in. “I’m guessing this guy’s going to be about five pounds, maybe six.”
“How can you tell?”
“He’s putting up too much of a fight to be a little two or three pounder.” Once the fish was on the boat he removed the hook and used another app to do an unofficial weigh of the fish.
Brows crinkling, Rose pointed at the fish. “Do you have an app for everything?”
“Pretty much.” He smiled and returned his attention to the weight. “Yep. Five and a half pounds. Looks like it’s going to be a good day.”
“Now what?”
“He goes in here.” Logan placed the fish in the living well. Since this was a catch and release tournament and they weren’t keeping track of their own weigh-ins, the
fishermen were to keep the fish alive until the official weigh in at 4 PM. “How well we keep the fish until the weigh-in is part of the scoring.”
Rose nodded. “I guess I really should read rules.”
“How were you to know you were going to tag along today instead of a tournament official?”
“True.” She rubbed her hands together enthusiastically. “You know, this competition thing is kind of exciting. I wonder how long before you get another nibble.”
He shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
Over the next couple of hours he got way more fish than he’d expected, almost all of them five or six pounds. He caught an eight pounder and a couple of fish too small to keep that he immediately threw back. They nibbled another delicious snack packed by Lucy, cook extraordinaire. The woman may be a lousy matchmaker according to Rose and her family, but she knew how to pack a snack basket like nobody’s business.
“Are there any more of those little breakfast quiches?” he asked, holding his rod steady and staring at the still waters. A small part of him wondered if it might not be time to shift to another spot. Like people, fish didn’t stay in one place for long.
Rose ruffled through the small cooler. “No quiche but she gave us some almond cookies.”
“The crescent ones Lily makes?”
“Those would be the ones.” Rose smiled. “Lucy is a fantastic cook, but with a few exceptions she leaves all the baking to Lily.”
Something tugged on his line. “Looks like we’ve got another one.” Once again like the one just before, he and the fish did battle. “Boy, this guy’s putting up a fight. I think he might be the biggest one yet.”
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